Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, October 7, 2010

From this Episode

Claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by 11,000. Economist Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial talks with Bill Radke how good that number is and whether she is concerned about countries competing to stimulate their own economies.

States are leaning on nonprofits more and more in this economy for all kinds of services -- public safety, housing, food assistance. But a new report says cash-strapped states aren't paying the nonprofits on time. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

How will the U.S. unemployment rate come down? Economists are debating that very question. Economics editor Chris Farrell talks with Bill Radke about why some economists are saying that unemployment isn't cyclical, it's structural.

A new U.K. government report says a couple of things could very well go up soon -- contributions to retirement and the overall retirement age. Europe correspondent Stephen Beard talks with Steve Chiotakis about what changes pensioners in the U.K. face.

At one point Northwest Plaza Mall in St. Louis was one of the largest in the region, home to some 200 shops. These days the mall sits empty, but for one last store. And when Mike Bartel's one-man shoe repair shop closes its doors later this month it will mark the death of one more American mall. Adam Allington has his profile.

Smoking kills millions of people each year. And now public health experts from 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region want to fight back. They're meeting in Australia to look at ways to take on the tobacco industry. The BBC's Phil Mercer reports.

The Justice Department is looking into whether banks have been improperly foreclosing on properties and evicting the owners. Ally Financial, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have halted foreclosures in 23 states while they try to figure out whether legal paperwork is in, in fact, legal. What will the freeze will do to the real estate market? Alisa Roth reports.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to ban the use of food stamps to buy sugary beverages, in a test plan he says would take two years. Reporter Eve Troeh talks with Bill Radke about why this is an important issue for the mayor and whether it would work.